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SCHOTT expands U.S. Manufacturing with investment in new generation of pharma vials

International technology group SCHOTT has expanded its investment in the latest generation of pharmaceutical vials, mapping a future of stronger packaging options for pharmaceutical companies with U.S. manufacturing.

“The rise in biotech drug formulations has triggered an increasing demand for primary packaging with superior surfaces and high cosmetic quality”, said Christopher Cassidy VP Sales & Marketing, North America, SCHOTT Pharmaceutical Packaging. To cater this need, the international technology group will be expanding its SCHOTT Vials DC (Delamination Controlled) manufacturing capability in the beginning of the first quarter of 2018 in order to also supply customers from its Lebanon, PA facility.

Over the past few years, delamination has led to recalls of numerous injectable drugs. SCHOTT Vials DC significantly reduce the risk of glass delamination and brings it under control. SCHOTT developed an optimized and validated hot forming technology to prevent delamination. The hot forming technology creates a chemically homogeneous inner surface for the vial, improving its chemical stability. Each batch of vials undergoes a clear control strategy based on SCHOTT’s patented Quicktest, which uses a predefined quantitative limit value to verify that the delamination risk has been reduced and is under control.

Optimized manufacturing is also the key to preventing chips and cracks in the glass surface, and improving overall cosmetic quality. This not only facilitates automated machine inspection during filling operations, it also makes the vials less susceptible to breakage.

”Glass has a remarkably high internal strength”, said Cassidy. “Its weak points are small cracks on the surface or edges. Micro-defects caused during production or handling spread inward as mechanical stress increases. This can lead to fractures. As a matter of fact, an intact surface will already make a glass vial twice as resistant to breakage without any additional treatment.”

SCHOTT creates safer vials by optimizing the manufacturing process and introducing laboratory test procedures based on more than 130 years of experience in glass development and over 80 years of pharmaceutical packaging production.

“Having a reliable packaging partner that can support global sourcing strategies is becoming increasingly important for pharma manufacturers. The latest expansion of SCHOTT Vials DC underscores our commitment to U.S. production by addressing a real problem in the industry,” Cassidy said.

About SCHOTT
SCHOTT is a leading international technology group in the areas of specialty glass and glass-ceramics. The company has more than 130 years of outstanding development, materials and technology expertise and offers a broad portfolio of high-quality products and intelligent solutions. SCHOTT is an innovative enabler for many industries, including the home appliance, pharma, electronics, optics, life sciences, automotive and aviation industries. SCHOTT strives to play an important part of everyone’s life and is committed to innovation and sustainable success. The group maintains a global presence with production sites and sales offices in 34 countries. With its workforce of approximately 15,000 employees, sales of $2.21 billion were generated in fiscal year 2015/2016.